


Sakurauchi's Strawberries

by usermechanics



Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival (Video Game), Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Food, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-20 15:13:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13720359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/usermechanics/pseuds/usermechanics
Summary: When Riko learns a bit too late that it's Valentine's Day, she tries to make a gift in 30 minutes.





	Sakurauchi's Strawberries

**Author's Note:**

  * For [R0gue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/R0gue/gifts).



> im alive.
> 
> anyway animeender or r0gue i'm sorry that this was late i have not had the drive to write like at all this month. i hope you like it!

Riko’s phone rumbled against her wooden bed stand, filling the air with a slightly distressing hum. It had taken a few moments to grasp her attention, but the moment that it did, Riko reached for her phone, groggily. What could have possibly decided to interrupt her beauty sleep?

Powering her phone on, she saw two things which immediately made her eyes widen: it was 10:30, and Yoshiko had texted her. Riko opened her phone and read the message to herself.

“Riri! You couldn’t have forgotten what day it is! Today is a day where you are to descend with me! I’ll be over in 30 minutes. You better be ready!”

Was it really Valentine’s Day today? More importantly, how was it that Yoshiko was the first to text about it being Valentine’s Day? In any other world (and Riko believed this world as well) she would be the one to initiate conversation about Valentine’s Day, and that she would be the one who would be coming over to see Yoshiko, as opposed to the other way around. What had gone so wrong for her to have ended up like this?

Riko looked over to the other side of her bed, where one of her books had been discarded, with the back cover facing her. Of course; she had gotten into her reading a bit too much and ended up paying the price for it. When did she even go to bed last night?

Never mind that: what did she have to give Yoshiko? She had completely forgotten about Valentine’s Day, even if the book she had read clearly stated that it was a Valentine’s Day Hand-to-Wall Love Novel Special story. This was completely embarrassing for her: she felt as if she failed as a girlfriend, and that almost everything was hopeless for her.

Almost. If her neighbor taught her anything, it was that anything was possible. But what today? Riko sprang out of her room towards her balcony, seeing that Chika was standing outside, admiring the winter weather.

“Chika-chan!”

 

“Oh, hey Riko! What’s up?”

“Today is Valentine’s Day and I don’t have anything to give to Yocchan! Can you please give me any help?”

“Well, do you have any food?”

“Food?”

“Yoshiko said once that she loves chocolates. If you give her chocolates, she’ll probably be really happy, especially because chocolate is a common Valentine’s Day gift.”

“Chika, that is genius! Thank you for saving me! I love you so much right now!”

Chika nodded. “Make sure you save some of your love for Yoshiko, Riko-chan!”

Riko scrambled back into her room, pressing her feet into the (relatively) warm carpet, cursing herself under her breath for going outside in her pajamas in that weather. Shucking out of her pajamas, she got dressed in some respectable clothes for a date: leggings, a navy skirt that went to her knees, and a white tank top with a long pink shirt over it. With the outfit out of the way, and with a final look to the mirror, Riko walked out of her room and into the kitchen area, hoping to find what she needed, according to Chika.

“What else does Yocchan like?”

Her question was immediately answered by a bowl of fresh, bright red strawberries in a bowl on the counter, as convenient as she needed it to be.

She could remember the first time that she went out with Yoshiko, even; the highlight of her time spent was when they grabbed a pack of strawberries from a marketplace: seeing Yoshiko’s eyes widened in pure enjoyment of their selection was enough for a smile to form on Riko’s lips.

She checked her phone again. She had time. It was about 10:33.

The strawberries could be used as a last result if she couldn’t find a scrap of chocolate in her household. She darted to the cabinets and opened one, where just as conveniently as the strawberries, there was a large bar of milk chocolate in the pantry, albeit opened. Riko cursed herself under her breath as she pulled the chocolate out, seeing that most of it was still there, but she would be caught dead if she gave Yoshiko any bit less than a full chocolate bar. Sighing, Riko took a bit of chocolate for herself; if she can’t give it to Yoshiko, then why not just take some for herself?

Almost like the flavor of the chocolate, an idea practically smacked Riko upside the head.

_Strawberries and chocolate go really well together._

Of course! How could she forget about chocolate-covered strawberries! She had all the ingredients that she needed: she had her chocolate, her strawberries, and that’s all she needed.

Bar the fact that she needed some way to melt the chocolate in a professional manner. Even if she was rushed for time, she wasn’t going to ruin her food for Yoshiko. Being a bad girlfriend, in her eye, was bad enough; she didn’t want to be an embarrassment of one.

Thankfully, she had all the knowledge she needed: if she didn’t know anything, it was at her fingertips with either her cell phone or her computer. Considering the former was portable and already in her hand, she went online and went to a search engine.

_How do I melt chocolate to cover strawberries?_

And Riko was immediately introduced to the world of double-boiling, an ingenious solution to the problem she had. She read up about how chocolate was infamously temperamental when it came to temperature, and its propensity to burn instead of melt. Double-boiling: many a blog and article praised this style of chocolate melting, and it was undoubtedly a godsend to Riko. Short and efficient, yet also high quality, it was the perfect last-minute gift for Valentine’s Day: it was perfect for Riko, thus. Riko grabbed a pot, a heat-safe bowl, and filled the pot with just enough water such that it didn’t touch the bowl when the bowl was placed in the pot, just as the instructions stated.

With bowl and pot in tow, she moved towards her stove and turned it on, watching as a small blue flame flickered underneath the pot.

Now it was time for the water to boil. Every second that had been spent waiting for the water to boil was a second of silent panic for Riko, with time slowly distorting such that it seemed as if it took days for the water to boil. She placed the bowl on and off the water until she felt the heat of the steam rushing through her bowl and into her hand. She dropped it in the bowl and grasped onto the chocolate, her hand practically melting the chocolate from her touch.

It was time.

Breaking the chocolate into smaller chunks to make it melt easier, she would, after she found the chunks to be small enough (in her opinion, square centimeters did the trick), and she threw them into the pot, marvelling at how quickly they had started to melt. Soon, the solid squares had turned into a thick, dark brown liquid, and Riko could feel the heat radiating from the chocolate.

Before dipping, Riko looked at the instructions from the internet once more: she should stir the chocolate before doing anything with it. Riko dashed through her kitchen and grabbed a spatula to stir the chocolate, to truly ensure that it would not burn. Returning to her spot in front of the stove, Riko stirred the chocolate, watching as it swirled around almost relaxingly. It was as if all her troubles had melted away: all she needed to do at that point was to dip the strawberries into the chocolate and then she’d be all set.

She should have set up a place to put her chocolate sweets. A few cooking videos later, she grabbed a baking sheet and covered it with parchment paper, making sure to stir the chocolate whenever she could.

As soon as Riko found it to be ready, she cut heat and had a bowl full of warm, melted chocolate. Riko pulled the spatula out, liquid chocolate cascading off of it and into the bowl, almost begging to be licked clean off it. She fought the urge to do so and placed the spatula onto the parchment paper, not caring that it looked a bit sloppy. As if Yoshiko would see the chocolates on the parchment paper.

Riko grabbed the strawberries and brought them to the chocolate, dipping each one in the same manner: tip-first, leaving about a centimeter of space for the strawberry to be visible: she lacked any other way to decorate the chocolates, so they had to be stylized as such. After each one, she planted it onto the parchment paper until about 20 strawberries were covered in chocolate. Everything was going to plan. And, in celebration, she grabbed onto the spatula and licked it off, the taste of milk chocolate and success filling her mouth.

_Knock, knock._

Yoshiko was here.

Riko panicked, the sound of someone knocking at her door completely shattering her reverie.

“Riri! I command that you open this door!”

“Just a moment, Yocchan!” Riko opened her refrigerator, looking for a place where she could cool her confectionaries for at least a few seconds, just enough for the chocolate to harden against the strawberries. She had been greeted with a very full refrigerator, full of leftover lunches and sandwich stuffers and absolutely no room for a sheet full of chocolate-covered strawberries. Sighing, Riko placed the strawberries on a counter and closed the refrigerator: her sole saving throw wasn’t going to work, and hopefully Yoshiko didn’t mind warmer chocolate covering her strawberries.

“Riri!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming! I just needed to do my hair!” Never mind that Riko’s hair needed minimal styling, or that she didn’t touch her hair at all after her bath: an excuse was an excuse. Riko reached for the front door and tugged it open.  
“Sorry about that, Yocchan! I was making sure everything was in order.”

“I will accept it for only today, Riri. I do not wish to summon negativity on a day so special to us.”

“Would you like to come in?”

Yoshiko’s entrance was overt and grandiose in spite of the only other person in the room being Riko. As she rose her arms, Riko could see a sliver of something red in her hand, undoubtedly her end of the gift-giving.

“Now, I don’t usually provide gifts to anyone, but you’re such a special little demon that you deserve one,” Yoshiko began, knowing that Riko was eyeballing the small box in her hand. “I saved up quite a bit for this, and I wish for you to wear it with pride!”

“What is it?”

Yoshiko froze with her hand in the air, pointed at the sky, with the box in it. She was acting as Yohane perhaps a bit much in front of Riko, and in spite of the huge smile and quiet giggles coming from her, Yoshiko flushed, embarrassed at herself. She lowered the box such that her arm was parallel with the floor, and Riko pulled it out from her hand.

“Thank you so much, Yocchan!”

“I knew you would love it!” Yoshiko cheered, followed by a pause. “Well, what are you waiting for? Open it! I want to see if you like it or not! I hope you do!” Her smooth, almost seductive tone was nonexistent, and she instead was almost whining in her typical, nasal voice.

Riko opened the box and almost dropped it seeing what was inside. The box made it clear that Yoshiko had given her jewelry, but what she gave to her was undoubtedly Riko: a small, silver grand piano hung from a chain of the same color, glistening slightly in the room’s light. Riko was speechless, her cheeks flushing red from shock. It was absolutely perfect.

“Thank you so much, Yocchan! I love this!”

“I knew you would.” Yoshiko’s voice had deepened once more, her once-shattered confidence restored.

Through all of this, Riko felt almost inadequate. Only Yoshiko knew how much she had spent on that necklace, but Riko knew that it was exceptionally expensive, much more expensive than the strawberries that she had made for her. Hell, she almost felt awful about it all: she hadn’t much money and scrapped most of it on her own food. Regardless, it was something.

“You didn’t have to, honestly!”

“I didn’t need to, but I felt like my favorite little demon deserved it.”

Riko stammered and tried to backtrack, with Yoshiko following her.

“Did you get anything for me?”

Riko nervously eyeballed her chocolate-covered treats, her sole gift to Yoshiko.

“I did,” Riko huffed, almost defeated. Turning around, she grabbed the sheet with her gifts to Yoshiko and stuck it out in front of her.

“What are these?”

“Chocolate-covered strawberries. I didn’t have a lot of money, so I couldn’t afford something expensive for you. I’m sorry.”

Yoshiko picked one up, the chocolate melting slightly on her fingertips. “They were dipped recently.”

“They’re homemade, Yocchan!”

“So they’re even better!” Yoshiko exclaimed as she opened her mouth, preparing to take the strawberry into her mouth. Throwing it in, her mouth started watering, the layer of chocolate immediately melting in her mouth and giving way to the sweet strawberry center. Yoshiko’s eyes widened, tears starting to stream down her face in pure joy; even if Riko didn’t make them, they were still among the best chocolate-covered strawberries she had in awhile, and Riko making them had made them, in her eye, so much better.

“Are they any good?” Riko asked, slightly tentatively.

“These are amazing, Riri. In fact, these are the best things that I have ever received from anyone, little demon or mere mortal.”

“Do you really mean that?”

“Of course I mean that, Riri! Why would I lie to you, especially on a day like today?”

Riko watched as Yoshiko immediately downed several of her strawberries to emphasize her point, each one emphasized with a moan of pleasure and comments about how delicious such treats were; if it weren’t for Riko tackling Yoshiko in happiness, she would have finished the entire batch.

“I’m glad you liked them, Yocchan! Happy Valentine’s Day!”

**Author's Note:**

> jeez, i've written two yoharikos this year... don't worry, my next fic won't be yohariko, for certain.
> 
> Got any requests, ideas, or just want to hang out? Join my discord! https://discord.gg/YJPVY4K


End file.
